The Good Side Of The Economic Problems

The Good Side Of The Economic Problems

I paid $1.87 per gallon for regular Sunday night. I just received a notice that my mortgage payment on the house here in the mountains is adjusting--downward. It's only about $65 a month less, and because the reduction is all interest, it means that about 1/3 of that will be a reduction in the tax deduction I get to take, but it's still, on net, an improvement.

What I don't get is where the spectacular leasing deals on cars can be found. It is beginning to look like I am going to need AWD or 4WD to get to work next Sunday in Bend. I can remember seeing Subaru Impreza leases being offered for $119 per month last year. Okay, you needed to put about a thousand dollars down, and it was only 10,000 miles per year, but if I only used it in winter, that would have been fine. But now, everywhere I look, the cheapest leases turn out to be $325 per month and up.

The temptation would be to rent an SUV from Enterprise for the week--which turns out to be about $330. If I expected to be doing this commute twice a month for any length of time, leasing makes more sense. But I really, really don't want to believe that I will be commuting to Bend this regularly through the winter.